With some condition or limitation. This term originated simply as “a string” in the second half of the 1800s; “attached” was added a few decades later. Sandra Brown used it in her novel Alibi (1999): “His fantasy evening with the most exciting woman he had ever met not only came with strings attached, but those strings were probably going to form a noose that would ultimately hang him.” The term is also used in the negative, no strings attached, as in “They made a huge donation to the college with no strings attached; it was to be used however it was needed.”